Improvement in ribbon-blocks



' P; J. AUSTIN. Ribbon-Block.

No. 214,482. Patented April 22, 1879.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK J. AUSTIN, OF FARMINGTON,MA1NE.'

IMPROVEMENT lN RIBBON-BLOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 214,482, dated April22, 1879; application filed January .29, 1879.

even surface upon which to wind the ribbon and keep it in shape.

Figure 1 is a perspective view, showing the block with a piece of ribbonthereon; and Fig.

2 is a sectional view on the line a: m of Fig. 1.

Figs. '3 and 4 represent longitudinal sections of the block somewhatmodified in its construction.

It was formerly customary to make the blocks or rolls on which ribbonswere wound by simply turning them of the various sizes required from asolid piece of wood; but blocks thus made were objectionable because oftheir weight, which is many times that of the ribbon wound upon them,thereby greatly enhancing the cost of transportation.

To obviate this objection they have latterly been made of pasteboard' orpaper in several different styles, some having cylindrical paper bodieswith wooden heads, and others having similar bodies with pasteboardheads or ends; but these have not proven satisfactory, for the reasonthat, as the ribbon is usually moist or damp when wound, the pasteboardbodies fail to retain a truly cylindrical form, their surfaces becomingmore or less irregular and distorted, which renders the ribbon crookedor irregular on its edges when unwound, and notunfrequentlyirregular anduneven throughout its body, thereby seriously affecting its appearance,and consequently its sale also.

A ribbon-block has also been described as composed of a sheet of veneerbent to form a cylinder, with a strip glued on the inside at the jointto hold the ends together, and with end pieces of veneer or of woodglued in; but it is obvious that such a device cannot be made truewithout the-use of a former, and thatthe parts must be clamped or heldtogether until the glue or cement dries, and that such a method ofmaking them would be'both slow and expensive, besides being more liableto get out of shape or to split after being made; and I am not awarethat any such have ever been made or introduced into use.

Now, the object of my invention is to produce a ribbon-block which,while obviating the objection to the old-style solid wooden block, ofexcessive weight, shall at the same time retain its shape and present asmooth and even surface, and thereby keep the ribbon even and smooth. Todo this I make the block of wood; but instead of making it solid I makeit hollow, as shown in Fig. 2.

1t is obvious that this may be accomplished in a variety of ways; butthe simplest and best plan known to me is to make the block of twoparts, A and B, each part being bored or hollowed out, and united by ajoint, which will bring their outer surfaces flush, as shown in Fig. 2.When these parts are thus constructed, and glued or cemented together,the result is a cylinder or block which externally has a truecylindrical surface that will retain its form, and will be in allrespects equal to that of the solid wooden block, and which at the sametime is as light as those made of pasteboard, or nearly so. Ribbon woundon a block thus made will remain even and smooth and will be true on itsedges when unwound, while at the same time the cost of transportationwill be greatly reduced as compared with any other block having the samequalities.

Itisobviousthat instead of dividing theblock centrally, as representedin Fig. 2, the body may be made throughout its length of a single piece,with the head left solid at one end, and

then have a head iuserted at the other end, as shown in Fig. 3, or thatboth end pieces may be made separately and then inserted; but I preferthe planshown, as by the use of proper machinery they can be madecheaper and more rapidly. They may also be made in the form of a simpleopen-ended tube or cylinder with a diaphragm at the center, as shown inFig.- 4; but if so made the body must be thicker, in order to preventtheir being crushed or split, and this increased thickness would renderthem as heavy as when made with the solid ends, as shown, and would notbe as one, being securely fastened together, substanstrong, andtherefore I prefer the plan shown in Fig. 2.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A ribbon-blockcomposed of a cylindrical shell or body of uniform diameter from end toend, turned from one or more pieces of solid wood, with one or moretransverse supporting diaphragms or disks, the partsyif more than tiallyas shown and described.

2. A ribbon-block composed of the hollow cylindrical parts A and B,securely fastened together, substantially asherein shown and described.

- FRANK J. AUSTIN. Witnesses:

G. B. RoLLIN, E. B. LUFKIN.

